Photos of Guilin Locals

Contents Guilin is usually photographed from a distance. The karst peaks, the mist, the bend of the river — the postcard version of the city is a landscape with almost nobody in it. Downtown Guilin. For all the attention the city's scenery receives, its street life is just as much a part of the place. These photographs do the opposite. Taken around downtown Guilin by CLI's former Creative Director Jeff Fried, they come in close and stay there. Guilin sits in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, and its name translates roughly as "forest of sweet osmanthus." If you're curious about the story behind that, our short explainer on what the name Guilin means unpacks both characters. Scroll through slowly. And if the city draws you in, our insider's guide to Guilin covers everything from getting around to where to eat. 人 01 The People of Downtown Guilin Guilin is a prefecture-level city of roughly five million people, though its downtown core is far more compact than that number suggests. It is a walkable, densely lived-in place, and that compactness is what makes portraits like these possible. You are never far from someone's daily routine. Downtown Guilin is compact and walkable, which puts residents and visitors on the same sidewalks all day long. 江 02 The Li River at Dusk The Li River (漓江, Líjiāng) runs straight through the middle of Guilin before winding south toward Yangshuo. It is the reason most travelers come, and the stretch downstream is well known enough to appear on the back of China's 20-yuan note. The Li River (漓江, Líjiāng) at dusk. An old saying holds that "Guilin's landscape is the finest under heaven" (桂林山水甲天下). 街 03 Street Life in the Heart of the City Most of the images in this collection were made within a short walk of Guilin's city center. Afternoon on the Sidewalks Guilin's downtown does not empty out in the middle of the day. Shopfronts stay open, sidewalks stay busy, and conversation carries. An ordinary afternoon in downtown Guilin, a few minutes' walk from the river. Street corners like these are also the best classrooms in the city. A greeting, a question about directions, a comment about the weather — each one is a small piece of real practice. If you're planning a visit, learning a handful of Chinese travel phrases before you arrive makes those exchanges much easier to start. Street corners like this one are some of the best places in Guilin to practice conversational Mandarin. Downtown After Dark Guilin does not wind down early. The downtown streets and the illuminated walkways along the Two Rivers and Four Lakes stay busy well into the evening. Guilin after dark. Evening is when the city's downtown is at its liveliest. Faces in the Crowd The portraits are the heart of the collection. They are unhurried, close, and entirely unposed. One of nine portraits Jeff Fried made around Guilin's downtown. Guilin seen through the people who live in it, rather than the peaks they live among. 晨 04 Morning in Guilin Early mornings in Guilin belong to breakfast stalls, market runs, and exercise in the parks. Breakfast almost always means Guilin rice noodles (桂林米粉, Guìlín mǐfěn), eaten standing up or hunched over a low plastic table. Morning in Guilin, when the city's parks, markets, and noodle shops fill up first. CLI's own short film on Guilin, showing the same streets, riverbanks, and daily rhythms captured in the photographs above. Photographs can only take you so far. Standing on those sidewalks and understanding what is being said around you is a different experience entirely, which is why so many students choose to learn Chinese in China rather than from a classroom at home. Study Chinese in Guilin or Start Online CLI offers personalized Chinese instruction built around your goals. Join our Immersion Program in Guilin or begin from anywhere with a free Chinese lesson . Explore the Immersion Program Learn Chinese Online 词 05 Useful Guilin Vocabulary The words below cover the places and moments in these photographs, and they are all useful on a first walk around the city. Chinese Pinyin Translation 桂林 Guìlín Guilin (city name) 广西 Guǎngxī Guangxi (autonomous region) 漓江 Líjiāng Li River 山水 shānshuǐ landscape (lit. "mountains and water") 桂花 guìhuā sweet osmanthus 市中心 shìzhōngxīn city center / downtown 街道 jiēdào street 当地人 dāngdìrén local person 生活 shēnghuó life / to live 早上 zǎoshang morning 晚上 wǎnshang evening 夜景 yèjǐng night view / night scenery 米粉 mǐfěn rice noodles 照片 zhàopiàn photograph 拍照 pāizhào to take a photo 摄影师 shèyǐngshī photographer 可以拍照吗 kěyǐ pāizhào ma? May I take a photo? 谢谢 xièxie thank you Practical Tip Standard Mandarin will get you everywhere in Guilin, but many locals also speak Guilin dialect (桂林话, Guìlín huà), a variety of Southwestern Mandarin with its own tones and vocabulary. If you plan to photograph people, ask first — 可以拍照吗？(kěyǐ pāizhào ma?) is all it takes. 游 06 See Guilin for Yourself Photographs of a place are always an invitation. Guilin's peaks and river will still be there when you arrive, but the version of the city in these frames — the sidewalks, the noodle shops, the faces — is the one you have to show up for. Photography by Jeff Fried Related Guides Beautiful Photos from Guilin More of the city and its surroundings, curated from photographers on Instagram. The Best 30 Flickr Photos from Guilin Thirty more images of Guilin's karst landscape, rivers, and villages. The History of Guilin How a garrison town on the Li River became one of China's best-known cities. Elephant Trunk Hill The karst formation that has become Guilin's unofficial symbol. Longsheng Rice Terraces The Dragon's Backbone terraces, a few hours north of the city. 18 Things to Experience in Guilin A student's list of what to eat, see, and try while living in the city. Reasons to Study in Guilin Why Guilin works so well as a base for learning Mandarin.